Pubdate: Wed, 17 Oct 2007
Source: Student Life (MO Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Washington University Student Media, Inc
Contact:  http://www.studlife.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1636
Author: Robert Sharpe

USE PUBLIC EDUCATION TO SOLVE DRUG ABUSE PROBLEMS

When it comes to drugs, mandatory minimum prison sentences have done 
little other than turn the alleged land of the free into the world's 
biggest jailer. If harsh penalties deterred illegal drug use, the 
goal of a "drug-free" America would have been achieved decades ago. 
Instead of adding to what is already the highest incarceration rate 
in the world, we should be funding cost-effective drug treatment.

The drug war is a cure that is worse than the disease. Drug 
prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, 
which is then used to justify increased drug war spending. It's time 
to end this madness and instead treat substance abuse, legal or 
otherwise, as the public health problem it is.

Thanks to public education efforts, tobacco use has declined 
considerably in recent years.

Apparently mandatory minimum sentences, civil asset forfeiture, 
random drug testing and racial profiling are not necessarily the most 
cost-effective means of discouraging unhealthy choices.

- -Robert Sharpe

Policy Analyst at Common Sense for Drug Policy
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom